Page 77 of Ballad of Nightmares

“For fuck’s sake, Samar—” She caught herself before saying his name as loud as she nearly did, and she leaned forward so she could speak quietly, her face the picture of rage. “I want to know what’s going on,” she hissed. “Now, Samarius.”

Sam let the silence settle between them, his hands clasping together in his lap. Her tone nearly had him sending shadows around her throat, and he wondered if that was why she’d asked to meet him in public. He was forced to listen to her here, unable to run away into his shadows or go to his garden to work.

“Do you ever miss the sun, Millie?” he asked, watching her expression as his voice dropped.

She contemplated it, the thin line her lips had pressed into now softening at the very mention of it. He could see that memory hazing in her eyes, feel her stiffen and weep inside.

“I do,” she whispered.

“The warmth… the rejuvenation…”

“Bikinis and no umbrellas,” she added.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward, but only for a blink. He shifted in his seat and sat up, making Millie rest her glass of wine on the table.

“Do you remember when I first turned you?”

Millie stared, haze drawing over her eyes. “When you deviated from Firemoor,” she whispered.

“We took this realm,” he said, danger in his voice. “You, me, Rolfe… The legions that we found in the gutters and trenches trying to escape the chaos. We all came here and hid this place so we could live without being forced to do things we did not agree with. Life without persecution for what we were forced to become.” He settled his elbows on the table, watching that shadow of their dark past wash over her face. “What if we could have the sun again?”

And Millie’s eyes widened.

“What if we could have the revenge we promised ourselves we would one day have,” he asked slowly. “And what if… what if she was the key to it all.”

Millie’s breath visibly hitched, and with a subtle catch in her voice, she said, “Are you serious?” she asked. “You think it’s time?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking, barely been sleeping since the attack… And getting to know her…” Sam looked around them as he pushed forward, and then he locked eyes with Millie. “I should have realized it earlier. I should have seen her for what she truly was, not the things we’d been told. I could have saved us time if I’d asked her to become one of us instead of playing this little game, but… I needed her to love this place as we do. I needed her to see it as a home, and I needed to know how she genuinely felt about the other kingdoms. Revenge is a powerful force, but fighting for something you love is even more potent.” He huffed at himself and shook his head.

“Deianira is everything that we have waited centuries for. She’s already taken these kingdoms by force—something you and I have been dreaming of doing. Her very presence will march their armies into our home. Into everything we’ve spent years building and building, and for what? To sit back and keep to ourselves?” He paused, chin lifting, and pointed into the table as he said, “The time isnow.”

Millie leaned forward in her seat, mirroring him as her palms pressed flat. “Then bring. Her.Home.”

Her voice was a warning, and Sam didn’t blink.

“I need to know her endgame,” Sam said. “I need to know what she wants.”

“How do you plan on finding that out?”

Sam tapped his fingers on the table. “By breaking her.”

Millie sat back in her seat and took another sip of her wine, apparently considering everything he’d just said. “Bring her to the gallery opening tonight,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because I want to know if you’re too far in over your head,” she snapped.

Sam chuckled lightly, taking a sip of his own drink and hating how well Millie knew him. “You mean if I have the will to dangle her at the edge of the borders as bait still?” He leaned back and shook his head at the sky. “She’d welcome it.”

Ana treated herself to a hair appointment and retail therapy after meeting Rosie. She couldn’t get the fear in Rosie’s voice out of her head. Ana wondered how exactly Death had scared Rosie so much—so much so that she slept with her eyes open, refusing to acknowledge the darkness.

And the white rose in the vase…

Ana swiped her credit card and checked her phone for the time. She was almost late meeting Sam, so she gathered her bags and made her way to the bench he’d asked her to wait for him at.

She’d spent a lot more money than she’d meant to, but for once, she had money of her own that hadn’t been taken by blood, and she could wear clothes here that didn’t make her feel like a peasant.

That was another reason she loved this kingdom so much more. She wasn’t forced into linen dresses or ridiculously oversized cloaks. She could have her own style, feel good about herself and show off her curves without everyone calling her a whore or worse just because she had them.